Star Crossed
by ClockworkAngel98
Summary: When Emily Fields receives her acceptance letter to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry she is thrown into a world she never knew existed. In this world she will meet friends, learn magic, and fall in love. But in the Wizarding world things are never that easy.
1. Chapter 1

First Year

Emily Fields' eyes snapped wide open and a wide grin split across her face at the split second realisation that today was her birthday. She threw back the covers on her bed and leapt up onto the plush carpet that covered her bedroom. The young girl's eyes twinkled in the rising sun's light that filtered through the crack in the curtains which were currently still covering the large window at the front of her room.

She hurried over to the window and clambered onto the cushioned window seat; once there she sat back on her ankles and gazed up at the large drapes for a split second before throwing them aside and letting the warm glow of the sun's rays wash over her tanned face. Emily loved birthdays- not for the presents and cake but because it was the one time of year Emily would be certain that her father would be there. Her grin spread, if possible, wider and she jumped off the window seat and quickly pulled on some bed socks (Emily couldn't stand having bare feet around the house). Leaping off the bed her heart beat faster at the prospect of seeing her father after almost 8 months of him being out in the field fighting. The small girl didn't bother checking her mother's room for she knew that Pam Fields would already be awake and downstairs making breakfast with Wayne Fields by her side.

Emily's feet pounded the staircase as she ran down and through the living room into the kitchen- sure enough there was her father, leaning nonchalantly against the counter nursing a cup of coffee. "Dad!" Emily squealed and sprinted to him. Wayne hurriedly put the coffee down and knelt down slightly so that Emily could throw her arms around his neck.

"Hey there, Emmy." He smiled warmly as she squeezed tighter before pulling away and looking into his kind eyes "Happy birthday, sweet girl." Wayne gave her another quick hug before standing up so that his wife could also hug their daughter.

"Happy birthday." Her mother smiled and also wrapped her up in a tight embrace "I can't believe you're eleven. It doesn't seem like 5 minutes since you _were _five." Emily smiled again, her mom was always happiest when her dad was home.

"Come on, kid, I think it's time for presents." Wayne said and led Emily back through into the living room.

About an hour later a noise startled Emily momentarily before Pam answered her unasked question "Ah there's the mail." She got up and ventured to the front door to pick up the post. Soon after she appeared round the corner rifling through the envelopes. The smile on her mom's face faltered briefly as her eyebrows furrowed, walking over to Emily Pam handed her a medium sized envelope made from slightly yellowish paper that was textured to the touch.

Emily began to read the cursive writing in green ink on the front of the letter.

Miss E Fields

163 Pavingsway

Rosewood, Pennsylvania

North America

Emily furrowed her brows and turned over the thick envelope. There was a red wax seal of some sort of crest- perhaps some sort of old organisation? She broke the seal and opened out the parchment inside the envelope. It read:

_Dear Miss Fields_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July_

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

"What?" Emily asked to herself, confused- Witchcraft and Wizardry? Surely that was all fairy tales, right? "Mom…what's Hogwarts?" Pam's expression matched Emily's- utter confusion.

"Wayne…?" Pam turned to her husband who looked confused but his furrowed brows suggested that he was also thinking.

"Hogwarts…" He muttered "Hogwarts…" Then his eyebrows shot up and he exclaimed "Hogwarts! I had a half-cousin who went there!" However his wife and daughter still looked confused, his smile dropped for a brief second, turning to his wife he took her hand and then made eye contact with Emily before telling them to sit down. "Now…this is going to sound crazy but I assure you it is all true. My half-cousin… Cho I think it was. Well, her being my half-cousin I never really knew her and with such an age difference I don't think we ever actually met but I do remember my parents discussing her being accepted into a school; Hogwarts." Emily listened intently, captivated by her father's story. "Hogwarts is a school that doesn't teach normal subjects; it's a school for wizards and witches to learn…well wizard stuff. Em, I had no idea that you would be magical, I guess these things just happen." He smiled at her and Emily couldn't help but smile back- Wizards, Witches, magic…this was the best birthday ever!

The next day Wayne called his cousin and asked if they still had Cho's number, luckily they did and she answered. It was all a surprise to her, getting a call from a half-cousin she'd never met to ask if she could send an owl to Hogwarts. Cho was a very understanding and kindly promised to send out her owl with a letter of response to Hogwarts as soon as possible.

"There's only one problem." Wayne told Emily and Pam after he got off the phone "Hogwarts is in England."

"What?" Pam exclaimed "England? Wayne we can't possibly send Emily to England, she only just turned eleven!"

"Mom please!" Emily turned to her mother, eyes pleading "I _have _to go to Hogwarts! Please mom you've got to let me go." Pam looked down at her daughter and her resolve wavered

"I suppose you have got to learn…"

"Please, mom." Emily begged, her mother sighed. Her tense shoulder sagging; she ran a shaking hand through her hair.

"Fine, you can go, but you have got to write every week and tell us how you're doing."

"I will mom, I promise!" She threw her arms around her mother's waist and hugged her tight.

"Do you mind if I had a word with Em, Pam?" Wayne asked, insinuating he wanted to talk to their daughter alone.

"Not at all." She left the room and Emily turned to her father. He sighed but his smile remained, Wayne knelt down so that he was eye level with Emily who looked at him confused; what was this about?

"Now, Emily, what I'm about to tell you…you cannot breathe a word of it to your mother, understand?" she nodded vigorously. "When I said I had no idea you would be magical, that wasn't strictly the truth. I always suspected you might be but didn't want to jump to conclusions."

"But why would you suspect when you barely remembered about Cho?" Emily asked, thoroughly confused by her father's words.

"Because…" He trailed off and instead of continuing held out his palm where, with a flick of his wrist, blue sparks appeared and danced in the air.

"Dad! You're a-" but she cut herself off, her raised voice may attract her mother's attention, so instead she whispered "A Wizard."

"Yes, but I never told your mother, I didn't know how she'd react. When I met her I had turned away from the magical world but I don't want you to do that. The seven years I had at Hogwarts were the best of my life and I want you to experience every single wonder that comes with it." Her father's smile had grown to match her own. "Now let's book those plane tickets."

A month later on the 28th of August the Fields family landed in Heathrow Airport, England and rented a car so that they could drive to London and buy Emily's school things before term started.

In the back of the car Emily unfolded the letter from Hogwarts that she had kept on her nightstand since her birthday. After rereading the letter Emily opened the equipment list of what she would need for her first year at Hogwarts

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

Uniform

_First-year students with require:_

_Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

_One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

_One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)_

_One pair of protective gloves (Dragon hide or similar_  
><em>Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.<em>

Required Text books

_All students should have a copy of each of the following:  
><em>A History of Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot  
><em>Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ by Newt Scamander  
><em>The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_ by Quentin Tremble  
><em>A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_ by Emeric Switch  
><em>The Standard Book of Spells Grade_ 1 by Miranda Goshawk  
><em>One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ by Phyllida Spore_

Other Equipment:  
>1 wand<br>1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)  
>1 set glass phials<br>1 telescope  
>1 set brass scales <p>

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a rat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST-YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

"Dad?" Emily dragged out the word questioningly "Where are we gonna get all this stuff? Is there like some special Wizard shop in London?"

"Not sure, Em, but Cho gave me some instructions when I last phoned her." He replied but as Emily met her dad's gaze in the rear-view mirror he winked and she instantly knew that her dad new exactly where to get the items needed.

For about half an hour the Fields' drove around London as Wayne looked for their destination, after some searching they found it. "This is where Cho told you to go?" Pam asked incredulously, looking up at what appeared to be a tatty looking pub. Even Emily was confused by the tavern.

"Yep, now I'll just go in and make sure it's the place." As Wayne began to clamber out of the car Pam, gently tugged on his wrist

"Do you want me to come with you?" she asked, a moment of panic crossed his face

"Nah, I'll be fine." He joked it off and ventured inside, around 5 minutes later he returned and gestured outside the car for them to follow him. Emily's heart began to pound with excitement as they wandered into the pub. Once inside Emily instantly recognised this as being a Wizard pub. Strangely dressed individuals littered the bar- one man was even stirring his tea without touching the spoon! They hurried into the back and out of a door into a small courtyard that housed…nothing. Emily's brows furrowed and she looked up at her mother who was still looking inside of the pub. Emily turned, mouth open to ask her dad a question but he put a finger to his lips, motioning for her to be quiet and from the inside pocket of his jacket Wayne revealed what Emily knew straight away was a wand and began counting bricks up from a dustbin beside the back wall, three up and two across from it Wayne tapped the brick and replaced his wand inside his jacket.

Pam turned round and asked "So where exactly do we go now?" but no sooner had she spoken the words then the wall in front of them began to buzz and the bricks in the centre moved away and created an archway big enough for two men to pass through "I'm guessing that way." She answered herself before they stepped through onto the other side.

After stepping through the archway the bricks replaced themselves behind them and they got their first good look at where exactly they were. "Ladies," Wayne began "Welcome to Diagon Alley." Emily gazed around in wonder at the many bustling, caped and unusual people wandering around the alley. There was also lots of kids wandering around who, Emily assumed, were getting all of their school things. Emily turned to her dad, a huge grin on her face and he squeezed her shoulder, and with a grin matching her own said "Ready to start shopping?"

Three hours later the Fields' sat outside an ice cream parlour and enjoyed some very unusual sundaes. Almost all of Emily's shopping had been done all that was left was a wand and, if her mother allowed it, a familiar. "Pam, why don't you wait here while I take Emmy to get the rest of her stuff?" her dad asked

"Yeah, that's fine." She smiled as he gave her a quick kiss goodbye and Emily leapt up in order to follow her father.

"Now I believe it's time we got you a wand don't you think?" Wayne grinned down at his daughter and Emily couldn't help but grin back.

They made their way down the alley and turned into a rickety old building with a sign that read _Ollivander's Wands. _They stepped through the doorway and Emily's breath was taken away by the shop. Shelves filled with boxes upon boxes of, what Emily could only guess were, wands. She spun around, trying to take in as much of the shop as she could before her dad steered her over to the counter where an unusual looking man was standing. "Mr Ollivander, I'm looking for a wand for my daughter." The man didn't reply for a while, he was staring intently at Wayne.

"No…Wayne Fields! It's you isn't it! Why I haven't seen you since…well since you met your Muggle wife." He turned to Emily, and she tried for a smile "And this is your daughter, did you know that I remember every wand I've ever sold? Your father's was a 14 inch maple with phoenix feather, supple. An excellent wand." He seemed to go into a world of his own for a brief moment before focussing back on Emily. "Now, the wand chooses the wizard but there's no reason not to help it along is there?" he asked

"No, I suppose not." Emily smiled, the man was unusual but strangely likeable. He turned away and started rifling through the boxes stacked high upon the floor, knocking many over. Ollivander whipped round with a dusty box in his hands "10 inch, holly, unicorn hair flexible but sturdy." He handed it to Emily, she expected something to happen but it just sat in her hands, Ollivander snatched it back. "No, what was I thinking?" He returned to rummaging through the boxes, this time on one of the shelves he returned with another tattered box. "15 inch, rowan, veela hair." Once again he handed the wand to Emily and once again nothing happened. Emily began to get disheartened, what if the letter had been wrong? What if she wasn't magical at all? "No matter," The old man turned and ran through to the back of the shop he returned around 3 minutes later brandishing a box that was better kept than the others. "Third time lucky, as the Muggles say." Emily reached out and hoped beyond hope that this was her wand. As soon as she held the wand a warm feeling spread across her palm and a few blue sparks flew out the end of the wand. "That's it young lady, that's your wand." Ollivander smiled "12 ½ inch Rosewood with Ebony swirl handle, dragon heartstring centre, and sturdy."

"Thank you, Ollivander." Her father went to the counter and placed a few Gold Galleons on it. Ollivander leaned down and whispered in her ear

"With a father like that, you're bound to be one of the brightest and best Witches of our generation." His words confused Emily but as her father turned and smiled for what must have been the umpteenth time that day, Emily brightened and placed her wand back in its box before following her father out of the store.

Ollivander's words played over and over in Emily's head as they ventured back through the street and stopped outside of a shop larger than the other ones. She looked up at her father in confusion. "Can't have you going to Hogwarts without a familiar, can we?" He held the door open for Emily as she walked into the store with another face splitting grin and looked up and around at the many cages containing all manner of animals. Wayne closed the door behind them, the bell above it jingled loudly and an old woman with a kind and ancient face smiled warmly at them

"Can I help you?"

"Not just yet, I think Em wants to have a look round first." He answered politely, with another smile the woman returned to reading. Emily looked around at all of the animals and reread the letter determining what animal she could take. _'A cat, rat, toad or owl.' _She mused, she automatically knew she wanted to take a cat- she had always wanted one. With this in mind she ventured over to the back wall, where all of the cats were situated. After about a minute of perusing the cages Emily' eyes came to rest on a smaller cage, she looked inside and saw that underneath a blanket was a small shape, Emily reached her finger in the cage and gently eased the blanket off. Underneath was a small black kitten with white paws and brilliant blue eyes, it looked at her and Emily felt as if she could understand it, hear what it was thinking.

"Hey dad!" She called and he came over "I think I've found someone." She smiled brightly as her dad did the same, he waved the woman over and she also smiled.

"Ah yes, she was just born over a month ago- today is the first day she's available to buy." The woman explained

"Does she have a name?" Emily asked

"No, I never got the time to name her." Emily looked up at her dad and he nodded

"We'll take her." He walked over to the till to await the owner who opened the cage and lifted out the yawning kitten. She wrapped her in the red blanket from her cage and handed her to Emily, who bundled her up in her arms. A minute later a gasp came from the woman at the counter. Emily looked over to see her dad handing over a rather large pile of Galleons

"Mr Fields! No, no, no, no, please it's on me!" she exclaimed, Emily's brows furrowed once again- another Wizard who knew her father

"Please, I can't give you nothing." He said to the woman who mulled this over for a minute before speaking again.

"Okay, 20 Galleons." Her father still did not look too happy but he retracted most of the money from his hand and gave the woman the smaller pile of Galleons. Giving her new cat a quick stroke between the ears Emily followed her dad out of the store and back out into Diagon Alley.

It was the first of September and Emily Fields was wandering through Kings Cross Station to try and find platform 9 and 3/4. The very same morning her mother had taken I'll with the flu and so had to stay at the hotel but her dad was still by her side directing her through the flow of human traffic- they had gotten there extra early because her father said there was some people he wanted her to meet.  
>Approaching platform 9 Emily noticed there was no sign for 9 and 34, she looked to her dad who was already looking down at her. He grabbed her hand "Emmy, I need you to trust me. We're going to run at that divider between the platforms and it will take us where we need to go okay?" Emily nodded. Her dad took hold of her luggage trolley and they began to quicken their pace as they ran forwards; Emily's eyes snapped shut and when they opened again she was on a completely different platform with a glistening scarlet steam train on the tracks below.  
>"Wow." She breathed<br>"The Hogwarts Express." Her dad said in a sort of mystified tone "It hasn't changed since the day I boarded it for the first time." Emily's eyes widened at this- it looked in pristine condition, but there was no doubt magic had to have been involved. "Now Em, let's find those people I want you to meet."  
>They searched the platform and after a few minutes of squeezing through the assembled Witches and Wizards they found a group of around 10 people all talking together and laughing.<br>"Ashley." Wayne called and the talking stopped  
>"It can't be..." Emily heard the redheaded woman mutter as she turned "Wayne Fields! I haven't seen you since graduation!" She rushed over and pulled him into a hug "Veronica! Peter! It's Wayne!" Another couple rushed over, both of them with brown hair and Emily looked at them incredulously as the woman, Veronica, hugged her father and then the man, Peter, shook his hand and then pulled him into a tight hug. They all stepped back and looked at each other smiling for a while before Peter stepped to the side and a girl slightly shorter than Emily stepped forward looking sheepish and yet confident.<br>"Wayne, this is Veronica and I's daughter; Spencer." She stuck her hand out for him to shake. Ashley then also led a chubby girl with dirty blonde hair forward  
>"And this is my daughter: Hanna." Wayne knelt down to their height and shook Spencer's hand before ruffling Hanna's hair<p>

"They look so much like you." He said to both girl's parents. Wayne stood back up and gently eased Emily forward "This is my daughter; Emily."

"We had no idea you even had a daughter, I mean you never send us owls anymore." Veronica remarked, smiling at Emily

"Well I've been leading a Muggle life for…just over 20 years." The Witches and Wizards around Emily's mouths dropped in surprise

"Really?"

"But how?"

"You haven't used magic in…" They all spoke at once and Emily turned to the two other girls.

"So, is this your first year at Hogwarts?" She asked them, Hanna nodded in response, Spencer however was not shy

"Yes, I can't wait, ever since I was a little girl I've wanted to come here." She smiled at the prospect of finally learning magic from professors. "What about you?"

"Well err…" Emily trailed off "I only found out that I was a Witch just over a month ago."

"Seriously? Your father never told you?" Spencer asked, surprised

"Well I never knew he was a Wizard either." She replied honestly "But I've been reading up on the subjects we get taught and magic in general so I can honestly say I can't wait either." Emily grinned and Spencer once again stuck out her hand, Emily shook as she spoke.

"I can tell we'll get along just fine." Emily couldn't help but grin as Spencer turned to Hanna

"What's wrong Hanna? I've never known you be so quiet!"

"Sorry…" The blonde spoke for the first time and turned to Emily "You seem real nice and all…I just get nervous around new people; most people don't like me, or they're mean to me." Emily's heart broke for the girl.

"Well you seem lovely, and don't worry; I won't be mean to you." Hanna's nervous expression turned to one of joy and she pulled Emily into a tight hug

"I can tell we're gonna be best friends!" She exclaimed and Emily couldn't help but laugh.

As Emily waved goodbye to her dad who was standing on the platform as the train pulled away she couldn't help but be filled with a sense of joy and excitement. Rearranging herself into a comfortable position on the plush seat in the compartment she looked around at the two other girls who had begun chatting as soon as the train began to move. Emily sat quietly by herself for a few minutes before Hanna turned to her "So, you're Wayne Fields' daughter."

"Yeah, I guess."

"You guess? If he were my dad I'd be talking about him non-stop!" Hanna exclaimed

"Why?" She asked and Spencer spluttered whilst Hanna sat slack jawed.

"_Why?_ Don't you know about your father?" Spencer asked bewildered

"Know about what?" Emily answered with another question

"That he was one of the bravest Wizards of his generation!"

"My dad? What did he do?"

"What did he do?" Spencer took over "He was an Auror- he captured criminals, he caught some of the worst criminals that the Wizarding world has ever seen…he did so much and only in five years! Then all of a sudden he turned his back on magic and the Wizarding world. No one heard anything from him for 20 years." Spencer exclaimed and Emily was left speechless. Her dad did all of those things and never once mentioned it to her or her mother…_ '20 years'_ Emily thought _'My dad met my mom 20 years ago! She was the reason he stopped doing all of those things!'_ "My parents talk about him all the time though." Emily turned her attention back to Spencer "They were best friends back at Hogwarts, six out of seven years they were friends- Hanna's mom too. They were inseparable and were always top of the class."

"Yeah, my mom said that they were the best friends she had ever had. That's how me and Spencer met!" She threw a chubby arm around the brunette who despite her matter of fact manner smiled. "As soon as we were old enough they introduced us to each other and we've been best friends since!"

"Yay…" Spencer muttered sarcastically and Hanna slapped her arm playfully which ended up in a scuffle for who could have the most room on the seat.

While they fought Emily turned her attention to the cityscape that whizzed past the window. England was nothing like America and Emily was worried she wouldn't fit in here – new country, new school, new people, new _life._ It was all very daunting but before Emily could worry about it much longer a knock came at their compartment door and all three girls turned to see who was knocking. A short brunette wearing vintage clothes opened the door and looked down at her black leather shoes as she spoke.

"Err, all the other compartments are full…would you mind if I sat in here?" there was no reply for a second- Emily didn't want to invite her in in case the other girls didn't want her there. The girl took this as a bad sign and began to babble "I mean I won't talk or anything…or I could just sit out in the corridor but that might be a safety hazard…" It was Spencer who spoke, cutting off the girl's nervous ramblings

"It's fine, there's plenty of room in here and you don't have to sit in silence- we won't bite." The girl at the door grinned appreciatively and thanked them profusely as she drug her luggage in and tried unsuccessfully to heave it onto the storage rails above the seats. Emily stood up and took over pushing it onto the rails- she was much taller than the girl and so could reach with ease. She began thanking Emily again as she sat down onto the seat. The train jostled on the tracks slightly and all four girls looked out of the window in unison; they had left the soaring skyscrapers of London behind and were now journeying over green fields but Emily could see the houses of nearby towns in the distance.

The girls fell into silence and Emily chanced a look at the new girl- she was sat with her hands in her lap and was staring down at her fingers. She smiled sadly and decided to break the silence "I'm Emily Fields, what's your name?" The girl's head shot up and she smiled gratefully

"Aria, Aria Montgomery." She replied, Spencer spoke next

"Spencer Hastings."

"And I'm Hanna Marin." Hanna grinned and Aria returned the gesture, she then spoke again but nervously

"So…were your parents Wizards?"

"My mom and dad are." Replied Spencer

"My mom is and my dad was a Muggle but when he found out she was a Witch he left." Hanna said sadly and Aria looked downcast at this news

"My dad's a Wizard and my mom's a Muggle." Emily answered and Aria's expression became sadder "But I didn't find out he was a Wizard until a month ago, so if you're worried don't be. I'm in the same boat as you." Aria's smile returned

"Yeah, I'm Muggle-born. You can imagine the surprise on my parents faces."

"I don't need to imagine, I've lived it." Emily joked and all four girls laughed. After that it was water under the bridge they all just clicked- they were friends.

After arriving at Hogwarts and the initial shock of the beautiful old building the first-years were directed to the Great Hall where the sorting ceremony was about to take place. They filed in in alphabetical order to prepare for the sorting ceremony. Emily's father had briefly told Emily about the sorting ceremony however he generalised it, saying he wanted Emily to experience it first-hand. The alphabetisation meant that Emily was separated from her new-found friends and was instead between a tall boy with scruffy black hair and a girl with ginger curls. As the headmaster (Professor Dumbledore) welcomed them to the start of year feast Emily couldn't help but look up at the –clearly enchanted- ceiling, it was scattered with the beautiful stars that were currently blazing in the sky outside. After Dumbledore finished his speech he stepped down from the podium and a woman with thin lips and stern eyes stepped forward to take his place, as she did so two older boys ran out and placed a stool beneath the podium and on top of it balanced an old, ragged Wizard's hat with a large tear across the centre of it. However it was no rip for as soon as the hat was settled on the stool the tear began to grow and to the shock of all the first years the hat began to sing- the rip acting as its mouth.

After the song was over the woman introduced herself as professor McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor house she then began reading out the names of students; the first to be called was a blonde boy McGonagall called out "Ackard, Sean!" as he stepped forward he looked petrified but sat down on the stool all the same and the professor placed the hat on top of his head, due to its large size however it slipped over his forehead and after a few seconds deliberation called out "Hufflepuff!" Sean rose from the stool and hurried over to the Hufflepuff table to a round of applause from those seated there. More names were called before another blonde, this time a girl, was called "Cook, Samara." McGonagall summoned her. She stepped forward and immediately after it was placed on her head the hat screeched "Ravenclaw!" more and more students stepped forward and each time the hat screeched out a house "Gryffindor!", "Hufflepuff!", "Slytherin!", "Ravenclaw!" then her moment came "Fields, Emily." McGonagall called out and she gulped- she was the first of her new friends to be called. Sitting down on the stool was terrifying, the whole school was staring at her in anticipation. The hat was placed on her head and it spoke quietly in her ear

"Hmmm, what a conundrum, clever but not so much- with Ravenclaw's help you could go far but you are loyal, yes, very loyal indeed; Hufflepuff would suite you almost perfectly but I see more from you. I think this one will be…GRYFFINDOR!" The hat yelled out and it was removed from her head, Emily walked over to the table filled with people adorned in scarlet and sat amongst them as they cheered. She grinned broadly at being accepted into their ranks; next was a small boy with curly, dark brown hair "Gottesman, Lucas." He was immediately placed in Hufflepuff. Then it was Spencer's turn.

"Hastings, Spencer." The brunette stepped forward and the hat once again took its time, it seemed to be torn between houses, it then called out:

"Ravenclaw!" She rose from the stool, Emily could definitely see Spencer as a Ravenclaw; she clapped along with the other Ravenclaws as Spencer settled in.

A handsome boy with a strong jaw and jet black hair was next in line "Khan, Noel." He was placed in Slytherin more people were called and then a familiar dirty blonde head came into view "Marin, Hanna." Emily crossed her fingers, hoping Hanna would be placed into the house she wanted

"Hufflepuff!" From the relieved grin on her face, Emily assumed Hanna was happy with the result. Then a girl with long dark flowing hair stepped forward

"Marshall, Jenna." The second the hat touched her hair it screamed

"Ravenclaw!" She walked over with a smug smile on her face- more names were called and more people were placed into their houses, there was a lot of kids with names beginning with Ma then a tall girl with light brown hair stepped up

"McCullers, Paige." She walked to the podium on shaky legs and sat down with a worried expression on her face- Emily felt sorry for the girl. It took a moment, Emily assumed the hat was whispering in her ear in the same fashion as it had to Emily but the hat then decided and screeched

"Slytherin!" The girl- Paige-'s face fell and tears formed in her eyes. She lifted the hat from her head and trudged over to the Slytherin table with sagging shoulders and a bowed head. Emily guessed that was not the result she was hoping for; Emily smiled sadly before returning her gaze to the front of the entrance hall. Yet again more and more names were called then; "Montgomery, Aria." Emily's heart raced for the Muggle-Born girl the hat had just brushed her forehead when the hat screamed "Gryffindor!" Emily leapt up to welcome Aria to her table and clapped thunderously along with the rest of the Gryffindors. When the brunette made it Emily threw her arms around her and pulled her down to sit next to her. They looked back to the podium

"Rivers, Caleb."

"Ravenclaw!"

"Smith, Anna."

"Hufflepuff!"

"St. Germain, Maya."

"Slytherin!"

Names were called, houses were shouted and applause filled the hall then the last name was called, a small girl with bunches and rather large glasses

"Vanderwaal, Mona."

"Ravenclaw!" Now that the ceremony was over McGonagall cleared away the stool and hat then Dumbledore returned to the podium to speak once again.

"Now that that's done with…let the feast begin!" The many plates filled with all manner of delicious looking food, Aria and Emily looked at each other, grinning, and dug in.

Emily's first year at Hogwarts was flying by faster than a Firebolt, it was no time until it was a few days before the Christmas holidays and almost all of Emily's things were packed in her trunk ready to fly back to America. Despite being sorted into different houses Emily, Aria, Spencer and Hanna were still firm friends, who spent almost all of their time either in the library or in the fields outside of the castle talking, joking and doing homework. Spencer was a Ravenclaw through and through with perfect scores on almost every test-she was nothing like her sister Melissa who was in Slytherin house, they were both equally smart but Spencer kind and warm hearted. Melissa was as cold-blooded as a snake, perfect for Slytherin. Aria and Hanna were staying at Hogwarts over Christmas break but Spencer and Emily were going back home- Emily couldn't wait to see her parents again after over three months of not seeing them, however she kept her promise of sending a letter a week with the owl that her father had bought to keep in touch. His name was Olivan and he was dark grey, almost black with large golden eyes.

As the four girls sat outside the castle a familiar voice boomed nearby and they turned to see Hagrid coming over to them with a large grin on his face. He was wearing a large red Santa hat- the girls tried not to laugh. "Af'ernoon girls! Are yer lookin' forward to the Chris'mas 'olidays?" He asked cheerily

"Definitely, I can't wait to see my dad." Emily replied with a warm smile, her friends and Hagrid were very close, despite him not being a teacher they regarded him as the best member of staff- they were often invited for tea at his hut.

"Ah, yer dad, Wayne Fields! Do us' a favour Em, would ya? Tell yer dad I say 'ello. No' sure if e'll remember me but it's worth a go."

"Of course Hagrid." Emily smiled and they briefly chatted with him before he had to excuse himself to go and feed one of his new pets.

Christmas came and went, Emily found out her dad had been a Gryffindor and that she was following in his footsteps almost exactly- his best friends had all been from different houses. Easter passed too and it was time for them to sit their exams.

"Ugh, I'm gonna fail!" Hanna slammed her head down onto the large book she was reading from, the loud _smack! _Caused them to be glared at by the librarian.

"Hanna, no you're not. Did you read those notes I gave you?" Spencer asked, placing a gentle hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"Yes! And I didn't understand those either!" she buried her face further into the book and Emily smiled sadly at her. She, for some reason, wasn't worried about her exams- she had been revising profusely and now felt a strange sense of calm at the impending exams that were scheduled after the weekend.

"Just keep reading, it'll be fine." Spencer assured her, sounding rather unconvinced. Hanna groaned again.

The exams passed and so did the girls and, to her own surprise, so did Hanna, "See," Emily said "You don't give yourself enough credit." Hanna smiled appreciatively at her before giving her a very tight hug, Emily returned the gesture with a smile and excused herself to go and finish packing the rest of her things for the departure of the Hogwarts Express the next day. To be truthful Emily was sad she was going home, she wanted to learn more, do more, experience _more _but at the same time she wanted to see her parents and her home again.

As she made her way to the Gryffindor common room she got lost in her own thoughts and didn't see the girl walking towards her, who clearly didn't see her either. Closer and closer they grew without even realising each other's existence and then CRASH! They walked straight into each other. Books flew to the floor and so did the girls. "Oh my god, I am so sorry. I was in a world of my own." She bent down to help pick up the books without looking at the girl, embarrassed by her inability to watch where she was going.

"Its fine, I wasn't looking where I was going so...I'm sorry too. It was mostly my fault anyway so don't blame yourself." The girl babbled as Emily gathered up the rest of the books and handed them to the her, who she finally looked at and when she did she recognised her instantly _'the disappointed Slytherin girl from the sorting ceremony' _Emily thought to herself, looking at the huge pile of books the girl was carrying. She made eye contact again and the girl seemed to have frozen, her earlier babbling seemed like it had come from an entirely different person. "Hey it's..." Emily trailed off trying to remember the name from the sorting ceremony "Paige right? Do you want a hand with those books?" Paige stood in silence for a minute before replying

"I don't really think it would be good for either of us if a Gryffindor was seen helping a Slytherin do you?" Then she turned round and walked the other way hurriedly leaving Emily in stunned silence.

The ride back on the Hogwarts express was fun but sad, it would be almost 2 months until Emily would see her friends again and despite the joy she felt at seeing her parents she did not enjoy the thought of a summer without Spencer, Aria or Hanna.

The scarlet steam engine pulled up into the station and Emily saw the gathered masses of parents and family members converging on platform 9 3/4 to welcome back the young Witches and Wizards. In the crowd Emily saw her mother and father waving at her exuberantly and Emily gave a small wave and smiled back.


	2. Chapter 2

Third Year

As Emily walked through the Hogwarts entrance hall and felt the familiar presence of the professors, the ghosts and the students, she knew she was home. The summer with her parents had been fun but not being able to show then anything she had learned (due to the law against underage Wizards using magic outside of Hogwarts) made it quite boring. But now she was back with her three best friends around her and the prospect of her third year at Hogwarts.

The girls' second year had gone by in a flash with the only interesting thing happening was Maya St. Germain blowing her top at Emily and threatening to curse her just for "looking at her weird."

It had been an uneventful year but also a fun one (when was learning magic not fun?) with the girls' friendship growing stronger every day despite the friendly rivalries between their houses. However one rivalry was more prominent than others- the Slytherins and Gryffindors were almost always at each other's throats ever since Gryffindor had broken Slytherin's record of winning the house cup 5 years running last year. Personally, Emily didn't see the point in it. She understood the principle behind it, winning the House Cup was a huge deal but there was no need for the cut-throat tactics and snide remarks. Just this week she and Aria had been bombarded with a ridiculous variety of insults from the Slytherins in their Divination class.

It was now the second month of Emily's third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and although the workload was large she wouldn't have it any other way-well she may have swapped Snape for a professor that didn't have it out for every student that wasn't one of his precious Slytherins. But as her mom always said; you've got to take the good with the bad.

"Now, this lesson we will be staring into the tea leaves of a person we have never tried to read before." Professor Trelawney explained, Emily rolled her eyes- excellent. "Don't bother moving, I have used my Inner Eye to predict whose paths will cross in the future and so I have chosen the partners." Trelawney began reading out the names of students and their partners, then it was Emily's turn "Emily Fields and Paige McCullers." Emily's head snapped up and she inadvertently made eye contact with Paige. What surprised Emily most about this was that the brunette was already staring at her; Emily turned to Trelawney but she had already begun reading out the rest of the partners and it was no time before she was calling in her misty voice for everyone to rearrange themselves next to their new partners. The incense swirling around the classroom was starting to make her feel sick as Emily stood up stiffly from her chair and made her way over to the other side of the classroom where the other girl was sitting- Paige and Emily had only met once before, in their first year, but Emily remembered crashing into that girl and her sudden change in demeanour as she realised who Emily was as if it was yesterday. It didn't take long to reach the table.

"Hey." Emily greeted the girl quietly, an awkward silence descended as Emily sat in the seat whilst Paige debated over whether or not to reply.

"Hi." This was the first time Emily had heard her speak in over a year and a half and her voice sounded hollow, emptier than the last time Emily had heard it. Emily was about to say something more but Professor Trelawney was gliding around them giving them cups and saucers and pouring the bitter tea into them that the class knew so well. After Trelawney left the table the silence stretched between them and Emily shuffled her feat awkwardly, Paige however kept her eyes glued to the red velvet table cloth.

"Drink up everyone!" Paige and Emily did as the professor said and downed their tea. The bitter taste almost made Emily choke- Trelawney was definitely no chef. As they both returned the tea cups to their saucers Paige's face contorted in disgust.

"God that doesn't even taste like tea." Paige remarked and Emily was once again surprised to hear her speak, after all their last (and only) interaction had been less than friendly.

"I know, I don't know how we haven't been poisoned with drinking it every week." Emily replied in a friendly manner before passing her cup to Paige who, in turn, did the same.

As Emily tried to deduce the shapes the tea leaves had made in the bottom of the cup she thought how this seemed to be going quite well. A small clatter made her look up, Paige had put the cup back into its saucer and folded her arms- the girl huffed. Emily turned to establish where abouts in the room Trelawney was currently gliding and satisfied with the knowledge she was on the other side of the classroom Emily spoke to Paige. "What's wrong?"

"I can't read it." She replied simply

"Wanna know a secret?" Paige looked inquisitively at Emily, confused by the subject change, Emily continued "I can't either." Paige's eyebrows shot up

"But you're top of the class!" Emily was surprised Paige knew this considering she never spoke to the girl, or looked at her for that matter.

"I just make it all up." Emily explained with a shrug "Just look at the shapes in the book and try and match a similar one to the leaves in the cup." Paige looked at her, her mouth slightly agape. Emily shifted uncomfortably.

"Didn't know you had it in you, Fields." Emily's tense shoulders relaxed and she let a smile grace her lips and for the first time Paige smiled back.

Professor Trelawney had seemed very happy with the tea leaf reading the day she had chosen the pairs and so had decided that they would remain in those pairs until they moved onto Palmistry. Emily wasn't going to complain- now that the awkwardness had subsided Paige and herself were becoming fast friends, however as she walked into Divination on that early December morning Emily was surprised to find Paige glowering in the corner where there table was situated. The brunette hurried over. "Paige?" She asked quietly as she sat down "Is everything okay?" She didn't answer and the entire lesson was continued in subdued silence but as the lesson drew to a close Paige turned to Emily, her eyes cold.

"Listen, I know we get along and everything but this can't carry on okay? Gryffindors and Slytherins don't mix, we're supposed to hate each other."

"But you don't want to be a Slytherin." Emily replied, Paige's eye brows furrowed slightly. "I saw you, back on our first night at Hogwarts during the sorting ceremony."

"Y-you remembered that was me?" Paige asked in disbelief, looking away slightly

"Yeah, you…after you were placed in Slytherin you looked really upset and disappointed." Emily explained "I felt really bad for you…I still do."

"Yeah well don't." The cold demeanour was back. "I'm just fine being a Slytherin and I don't need any help from a _Gryffindor._" She spat the word out as if it was poison. Tears welled in Emily's eyes as Professor Trelawney announced the end of the lesson. Emily shot up from her chair and ran from the room, not bothering to wait for Aria.

"I did it! Oh my God guys I did it!" Spencer screamed as she ran down the steps of Hogwarts. All three girls whipped around in shock, mouths open as Spencer came hurtling towards them at a speed Emily did not know was possible. The girl made it to them in record time and collapsed on the grass next to Aria.

"Spence? Are you okay?" Emily asked, honestly concerned for Spencer's mental health. The Ravenclaw gasped and then all in one long breath said

"ImadetheRavenclawQuidditchteam!"

"Oh my God Spence that's amazing!" Hanna threw her arms around her oldest friend as Emily and Aria also joined in on the hug, grinning madly. They all poured their support and love into the crushing hug and laughed as Spencer choked out;

"Guys, I can't breathe!" They eventually let go, Spencer still with a wide grin plastered on her face "I'm the new Keeper!"

"We're so proud of you!" Emily squealed and, if possible, Spencer's smile stretched even further

"Now you guys have no excuse not to go to Quidditch matches!" They all laughed

"We wouldn't miss it for the world." Their conversation turned back to less exciting things but it wasn't long before Hagrid came up the path from his hut and Spencer leapt up and rushed towards the giant with a face splitting grin

"Hagrid!" she yelled and the giant looked up from the path and smiled at the sight of the girl

"'ullo Spencer!"

"Hagrid I made the Ravenclaw Quidditch team!" Hagrid's face also broke out into a huge grin

"I knew you could do it Spencer!" He embraced her into a large hug and Spencer's face was mushed into his large moleskin jacket that was surprisingly soft "When's your first game so I can come and cheer for you?"

"Well it was scheduled for this week but with the old Keeper being injured and me only just making the team today they've rescheduled for after the holidays."

"Well I'll be there, I'll be the giant waving madly in the stands."

"Merry Christmas!" Hanna yelled as she jumped onto Aria's bed and began to bounce up and down in the hopes of waking the Gryffindor girl up.

"Hanna?" Aria asked sleepily "How did you get in here?"

"That was me." Another voice that Emily recognised as Spencer's said "I worked out the Gryffindor password." Emily sat bolt upright in bed and grinned around at the others. They all jumped in surprise having thought she was asleep "I've been up for hours." She answered their obvious but unasked question "I _love _Christmas!" Emily had decided to stay at Hogwarts this holiday because her dad couldn't make it back so Pam had told her to stay and have fun with her friends however the other girls had been planning to go home for Christmas. But as soon as they found out Emily was staying and they immediately changed their arrangements. "I've had all of your presents organised since Halloween." She grinned again and began rummaging around in the trunk at the bottom of her bed.

"And I thought Spencer was the anal one…" Aria muttered to Hanna and promptly received a glowering stare from Spencer who was also holding a bundle of presents.

Aria leaned over the side of the bed and grabbed up her pile and after Emily had found her well hidden presents the four made their way down into the common room to open them.

All four girls were pleased with their presents; Aria had bought Emily a new Phoenix feather quill, Hanna had bought a selection of sweets from Honeydukes and Spencer gifted her with a hand bound leather journal with the Gryffindor emblem embossed across the front and her name printed on the side. After this they all made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast and spent the morning relaxing then returning to the Great Hall for Christmas Dinner they then filled up the evening playing out in the snow. Emily could safely say it was the best Christmas of her life.

The holidays passed along with Easter and soon it was time for the girls' exams and once again Hanna was having a panic attack. "I'm gonna fail, I'm gonna fail, I'm gonna fail!" Hanna wailed as the girls tried to console her.

"You've passed both your first-year and second-year exams! What makes you think you won't pass these ones?" Aria soothed her and gently rubbed her back.

"Because I'm fat and dumb and I'm gonna fail!" She cried again as Emily pulled her into a tight hug.

"You are none of those things Hanna! You passed last year with flying colours and you're gonna do the same this year I just know it! So stop worrying and let Spencer help you revise for Care of Magical Creatures okay?" Hanna nodded into Emily's shoulder and turned to the Ravenclaw- they all helped Hanna revise and sure enough she came out of the exam feeling elated with how she'd done. Divination was in the afternoon so Emily and Aria trekked up the many flights of stairs to Trelawney's classroom; after reaching the fourth floor Emily began to think about Paige's outburst and why it was bothering her so much. It was her main topic of thought despite the fact it had happened months ago and besides they had been good friends yes but not as close as her Aria.

"Aria?" Emily asked and they hiked up yet another flight of stairs

"Yeah?" it suddenly occurred to Emily she had no idea what she wanted to ask Aria her opinion on. If she was friends with Paige? What she thought of the argument? Or maybe even if she was happy with her having a friendship with a Slytherin?

Emily never really saw the point in the rivalry but Spencer certainly did- she was always complaining about the Slytherins getting special treatment in her potions class, or about how arrogant they were or their attitudes towards Half-Bloods and Muggle-Borns. But Paige had never done any of those things. Emily sighed sadly and eventually made it to the classroom. _'This should be fun…'_ The Gryffindor thought as she lined up outside with the other students; her footsteps froze as she realized who she was standing behind. The brunette in front of her turned and her eyes widened. The two girls stared at each other for a while before Paige opened her mouth to speak but Emily stopped her.

"I get it, we can't be friends. I understand that you're just doing what the rest of your house tells you and that's fine."

"Actually, I wanted to say I was sorry." Paige replied and Emily almost stood back in shock. "You were right; I don't want to be a Slytherin. I don't want to be someone who discriminates and who has to pick their friends just because that's what everyone else has done. I don't want to become my father."

"Your father?"

"He was in Slytherin and was Head Boy- I hate him, I really do. He's just so horrible and I can't become him, Em, I just can't." Tears were welling in Paige's eyes and as she finished speaking they threatened to fall so Emily did the only thing she knew how to in these situations. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Paige in a tight embrace. Cradling her head and shushing her as she began to cry silently. Surprisingly no one was looking at them so Emily pressed a gentle kiss to Paige's head and rubbed her back soothingly; after a minute she stopped crying and stepped out of the hug however Emily kept a hand on the other girl's arm.

"You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, just as long as I can pass this exam." Paige joked and Emily let out a laugh- the first real one she had had in ages.

"I can't believe that's another year over." Aria sighed as the girls sat down in their compartment on the Hogwarts Express.

"I know, it doesn't seem like five minutes since we all met on our way for our first year." Emily agreed and shoved Aria's trunk up on the railings for the short girl. The Gryffindor looked out of the window and at the receding shape of Hogwarts castle in the distance, it wasn't long before the towers and turrets disappeared from view completely. Emily sighed and instead began to watch the trees, reaching for the sky whiz past the foggy window. Somehow, as the other three girls talked about the cute Arithmancy teacher Mr Fitz, Paige entered Emily's thoughts. What was so bad about Slytherins and Gryffindors being friends anyway? Emily knew that the rivalry went back generations, Cunning versus Courageous- it had always been the same. She just couldn't seem to grasp _why. _Emily was smart, but not a genius, Spencer on the other hand… "Spencer?" She interrupted the others' conversation abruptly, causing the others to all turn questioningly to her. "What's so bad about the Slytherins?" The Ravenclaw looked confused by her question so Emily decided to elaborate "Like I always hear people complaining about them and also why is there a rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor more than any of the other houses? I was just curious…" She trailed off and Spencer luckily filled the silence with her explanation.

"Well in answer to your second question it's because Slytherins and Gryffindors' personalities are so different and they always seem to clash. As for the first question, I raise you a question…what's so good about them?" Emily furrowed her brows, what did Spencer mean by that? "No seriously, have you ever heard of a Slytherin doing a good turn for another student that wasn't in their house? Have you ever seen them being supportive of a student who got the answer right in class? Have you ever seen them care for anyone else but their own? No? That's because they don't do good turns, they laugh when a student gets the answer wrong in class, they don't look after others because they don't give a crap- Slytherins haven't got it in them to be kind or caring. They're not like us Em; they don't care about anyone but themselves and their precious House Cup. I couldn't be happier that Ravenclaw beat them at both Quidditch and the House Cup this year otherwise we would never have heard the last of it next year if they had won." Spencer finished her speech and Emily just sat in shock.

"Well maybe they're not all the same." Emily said weakly

"They are Emily, there's not a single Slytherin with a good bone in their body. I should know, my father and sister were both placed in Slytherin and they're both horrible."

"Your dad seemed nice when I met him…" Emily tried again but she knew it was useless

"Emily, the criteria to be a Slytherin is to be _cunning_ of course he seems nice. So does my sister until she exposes her fangs." Spencer breathed out, seemingly to calm herself down. Both Hanna, Emily and Aria were shocked at Spencer's harsh words- they knew she could be intense but this was a new level for her. "Anyway, why the sudden curiosity?"

"No reason." Emily said quickly and returned to staring out the window.

The towering trees of the forest was now gone and instead rolling green hills replaced the dark trunks. If every Slytherin was like Spencer said, surely that meant that there was a side to Paige that Emily hadn't seen; a dark and awful side that laughed at people and made them feel bad about themselves…No. Paige wasn't like that, she was kind, caring and sweet with a great sense of humour. _'Besides'_ she reminded herself _'The Sorting Hat took ages to decide which house Paige was to be sorted in, there had to have been a reason behind that. Maybe it was the fact her father was a Slytherin that was the deciding factor in placing the girl in Slytherin.' _Emily smiled to herself. That was it, a matter of family alliances. She turned back to the other girls and the conversation then turned to another cute boy; Toby Cavanaugh of Hufflepuff. Emily wasn't interested in talking about boys, they never much caught her eye. The other girls always seemed to have a new boy in mind but the thought never occurred to Emily, not even for a moment.

A tapping noise awoke Emily from her slumber, she groaned and grabbed her wand, before remembering she couldn't use magic to light her way outside of Hogwarts. Instead she flicked on her small bedside lamp to illuminate the area around her bed and so as not to wake her parents in the next bedroom. Looking around the room she searched for the source of the noise, nothing in her room seemed to have moved so she looked over to the window and jumped slightly at the sight of two large golden eyes peering at her through the glass; it was an owl. Emily looked at the clock; 2:57am. She groaned again before throwing back the covers and clambering out of bed. The Gryffindor opened the window to let the owl in, it jumped onto her arm and she ushered it on top of her own owl's cage, she gave it a treat before stroking its silky black feathers and taking the letter from its beak.

Emily sat down on her bed and opened the parchment, holding it near the light so she could read it. Once her eyes had adjusted, she read;

_Dear Emily,_

_I'm not sure when this letter will get to you because of the journey from England to America but if I guessed correctly it should arrive around two weeks before the start of term- here's hoping! _

_I just wanted to say that last year I had an amazing time with you in Divination and consider you to be one of my best friends, in fact you're probably my only friend and I would love to spend more time with you outside of the classroom. If you would like to do the same, I hope, we have to do it in secret. The people in my house would hate me if they found out and I think my father may just do the same, I also think your friend Spencer wouldn't be too happy about our friendship but I really don't want that to get in the way. So, I have an idea. If you still want to be friends, after the Sorting Ceremony and start of year feast could you meet me at the oak tree next to Hagrid's Hut? If I see you there I'll know that this wasn't just a one-sided friendship, if not I respect that you have other friends who probably don't want you to be friends with a Slytherin so I'll keep my distance. Hope to see you then._

_All my love_

_Paige._

_P.S Just send the owl back to the owlry in London, he can find his way there._

Emily hadn't expected word from Paige all summer, let alone a letter like that. She reread the line _'One of my best friends, in fact you're probably my only friend.' _She couldn't imagine what it would have been like to go through the tribulations of Hogwarts life without her friends by her side. Despite her wanting to send a reply saying she would meet Paige right away Emily knew that her father would ask who it was from, and considering Emily only had Gryffindor stationary she was pretty sure Paige couldn't lie about who it was from so instead she read through the letter one last time before sending the owl on its way and returning to bed, with the Slytherin girl's words playing on her mind.


	3. Chapter 3

Fourth Year Part One

Shopping for her new year's school supplies was the most difficult it had ever been, with Hanna clutching tightly to Emily's hand they waded through the large crowds of students and parents desperately searching for Ollivander's so that they could find Aria and Spencer who were currently helping Mike- Aria's younger brother- to buy a wand. "This is madness!" Hanna exclaimed as the Gryffindor pulled her through the crowd.

"I know! I think we picked the worst day possible to come shopping!" Emily called back and they burst through a gap in the crowd and found that on the other side of the small clearing Aria and her brother were stood looking for them. Mike's eyes soon found Emily's and he called out;

"Aria, I see your friends! Guys over here!" He waved frantically and Emily smiled at his childish antics and rushed over with Hanna to avoid the rest of the crowd.

"Where's Spencer?" The blonde asked, slightly breathless

"Just buying us some pumpkin pasties, she shouldn't be long though." Aria explained, searching the faces of people for Spencer's familiar furrowed brows.

"Hey Emily look at my new wand!" Mike waved around the wooden object and Emily stood back with her hands raised in surrender.

"Whoa there kid, better put that thing away before you hurt someone." She joked with a slight serious hint to her voice.

"Oh yeah, right…" The brunette boy shoved it back in its box as his face dropped considerably.

"But hey, what type is it?" Emily asked, hoping to lift his spirits.

"Oh! It's a 13 ¼ inch Cedar with Phoenix feather centre." He grinned

"Wow, well mine is 12 ½ inch Rosewood with Ebony swirl handle and dragon heartstring centre."

"Seriously? That's so cool!" The boy grinned again and Emily couldn't help but return his smile. She remembered being that excited to go to Hogwarts her first year, not that she wasn't excited to return- especially with the prospect of seeing Paige again but nothing can beat that First-Year excitement. Suddenly a familiar voice called out:

"Hey guys!" Emily turned to the source of the sound and spotted Spencer weaving and dodging with all the skill of a professional Quidditch player through the last part of the shoppers. "God walking through that's worse than trekking through the Forbidden Forest!" The Ravenclaw handed a pumpkin pasty to each of her friends; Emily wolfed it down hungrily having not eaten since early that morning. Emily breathed in the familiar scent of Diagon Alley and a smile graced her lips; apart from Hogwarts Diagon Alley was Emily's favourite place- the books, the stores and the people all made it a charming and animated street. Although the cobbles hurt the girls' feet after walking on them all day they were still ecstatic to be there because tomorrow they would be boarding the Hogwarts Express to take them back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for their fourth year.

"So all you need now is a familiar." Aria checked off all the items on Mike's list. Emily smiled; she remembered buying her cat- Shadow- her first trip here. Spencer had an owl named Aristotle, Aria also had a cat, a ginger tabby named Othello and Hanna's familiar was a chubby white rat by the name of Snow "And all of us have everything right?" Aria continued and all three girls nodded in unison.

"Excellent!" Exclaimed Spencer "After we get Mike a familiar we can all go back to the Leaky Cauldron and get some rest." They all made noises of hearty agreement, Emily's legs hurt and she felt like her arms were going to give out from the weight of her new text books.

Around half an hour later Mike had purchased himself a new rat and named him Scuffles. _'Cute' _Emily thought as the grinning eleven year old scratched between the rat's ears which squeaked happily.

Toppling through the door of The Leaky Cauldron Emily and her friends hurried to get upstairs and curl up in bed. Soon their wishes came true and Emily and Hanna both collapsed onto their large king-size bed that they were sharing. Emily had bid farewell to her parents the previous day, Hanna's mum had left that morning but Spencer's parents had simply dropped her at the station at the beginning of the week. Emily felt sorry for Spencer half the time, her parents never seemed to want to spend time with her, especially now that Melissa was head girl and also a member of Slytherin house- the house which Spencer's father had been in. However it wasn't long before Emily's train of thought turned to Paige; that had been happening more and more recently, Emily put it down to having not seen the girl in almost 6 weeks- the distance was killing her, especially since she had received Paige's letter regarding their current friendship. Emily smiled to herself, thinking over the letter the Slytherin girl had sent her a week ago _'I consider you to be one of my best friends.' _Despite their differences and the altercation last year Emily also considered Paige to be one of her own best friends and couldn't wait to meet the girl after the start of year feast to tell her so. Sometimes Emily wondered if she thought about the brunette too much but then pushed such thoughts from her mind- they were best friends they were supposed to think about each other…right? The smile began to slip from her face. Did Emily think of Paige to often? Did Emily think of Paige in an entirely friendly way? No. That was ludicrous. Emily almost laughed at her own stupidity; all of a sudden Emily realised Hanna was staring at her. "You okay, Em?" The blonde asked, concern plastered across her features.

"Yeah just thinking." The Gryffindor replied, even though Aria and her were in the same house Emily had become closest to Hanna out of all her friends. There was something about the blonde's bright blue eyes that made Emily feel safe.

"About what?"

"It's nothing." Emily replied curtly, not wanting to explain her current train of thought. However Hanna was never one for taking hints.

"Aw pleeeeeaaasseee?" She begged "Come on please tell me, Em." But Emily kept her mouth shut "Merlin's beard! You have a crush don't you!" Hanna exclaimed suddenly

"What? No I don't that's ridiculous." And it was, Emily didn't have a crush, she had a friend.

"No you totally do, I recognise that look; Spencer gets it whenever she's around Toby." Hanna grinned triumphantly "Come on tell me who it is! I swear I won't tell anyone." The blonde crossed a chubby finger over her heart and grinned expectantly. Instead Emily turned over on the bed away from Hanna to avoid her gaze. "Em?" Hanna laid down next to the dark haired girl and wrapped an arm around her waist, Emily stiffened at the contact "I was just kidding, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." She relaxed slightly in Hanna's arms and realized that the sensation was nice. It was warm, and comfortable and _right. _They laid like that for a little while longer before Emily sat up and declared.

"Come on, I could murder a Butterbeer."

The familiar chugging sound of the scarlet steam engine filled Emily's ears as The Hogwarts Express began pulling out of King's Cross Station. Hanna and Spencer ventured off in search of a compartment while Emily and Aria stayed by the windows to watch as Mike vehemently waved goodbye to Byron and Ella Montgomery who were smiling happily on the platform amongst the other student's parents. He waved and waved until the Muggle and Wizard parents alike were replaced by the soaring offices and apartment buildings of London. A smile slipped onto Emily's face as she looked over at the grinning Montgomery siblings- it was highly unusual to have two wizards come from two Muggle parents but they didn't care; they were both just happy that they were able to spend more time together. A familiar dirty blonde head popped out of a compartment door further down the train and yelled "Hey guys, we found an empty space!" The other three hurried down to the compartment, dragging their luggage behind them.

Not long later they were all settled and Mike's still grinning face was pushed as far up to the window as he could get it, his eyes scanned the scenery hungrily- taking it every detail of the ever changing landscape. Emily was sat next to Hanna while Spencer, Aria and Mike took up the other seat opposite; there was plenty of room however. It sometimes amazed Emily how the whole school managed to fit onto the train but then she reminded herself that magic was clearly involved. "So Mike, what are you most looking forward to this year?" Hanna asked with a warm smile

"Everything!" He exclaimed and the girls let out a chorus of laughter "But definitely being sorted into a house- to be honest I'd be happy being sorted into any of the houses."

"Except Slytherin of course." Spencer joked and Emily couldn't help but furrow her brows.

"Why shouldn't he want to be in Slytherin?" Emily asked pointedly, four sets of eyes all turned to her accusingly

"Why would he want to be in Slytherin?" Spencer replied, her feathers clearly ruffled.

"Well for one, they do exceedingly well at school- it comes with their determination and they're clever."

"Yes but Ravenclaw's can do both of those things so what else is so good about Slytherin? I thought we covered this at the end of last year, Slytherins are just no good, Em." At Spencer's words Emily shot up out of her seat, almost clashing her head on the luggage railings and snapped;

"Fine, whatever- I'm going to the bathroom." And with that she stormed out of the compartment to the shocked looks of all of her friends.

Emily sniffled quietly before pulling off some toilet paper and dabbing her eyes gently; this was ridiculous, why was she crying? Or rather why was she crying so hard? Spencer had insulted the Slytherins before when she and Paige had been friends, why was it affecting her so much now? So many questions that Emily honestly had no answer for. A gentle knock on the door made the Gryffindor jump. "Emily?" A kind voice called; it was Hanna "Em, are you alright? If-if you want to talk about it without the others knowing I'm here." Despite the fact she was currently crying in a toilet Emily smiled. If she had to say who her best friend out of their group was it would definitely be Hanna.

"I-I'm not sure." Emily called quietly

"About what?" Hanna asked

"Whether or not I want to talk about it." She replied as the train jostled on the tracks

"Well even if you don't want to talk, I'm still here if you want…a hug or something? Sorry I'm not very good at this…" The blonde trailed off as Emily opened the door.

"Hanna; you're amazing at this." The brunette wrapped her arms around the chubby girl as Hanna joined in on the hug. They held on for a while longer before releasing each other. Hanna looked slightly uncomfortable though. "What is it?"

"I was just thinking…is the reason you're so touchy about the subject of Slytherin house because the Sorting Hat considered placing you there?" Emily was slightly taken aback by that, she didn't think of it that way. Not that the Sorting Hat had considered it.

"No, that's not the reason- it did consider me for Hufflepuff though." Emily gave a small smile before releasing a shaky breath and debating over whether or not to continue. She decided it was time to tell someone so she grabbed Hanna's hand and dragged her to a secluded part of the corridor before turning to face her. "No one can know about this okay? Please."

"Of course, whatever the secret is its safe with me." Hanna said quickly and with conviction

"I…" Emily wasn't exactly sure what Paige was…a friend for sure but recently…no. "I have a friend who's in Slytherin House but they're nothing like the others Hanna, really they're not and I just hate it when Spencer talks about them that way." Hanna was quiet for a minute.

"So…is he the crush that I was teasing you about yesterday?" Emily's breath caught in her throat…he…she hadn't said that it was Paige who was her friend…she had said 'they' not 'she'. Why had she done that? There it was again; another question Emily couldn't answer.

"No…_he's_ just a friend." Emily replied. Not telling the whole truth made her sick to the stomach but she had promised Paige that they're friendship would remain a secret…or at least she was going to when she saw her tonight.

"Oh okay." Hanna said happily but then turned serious "You gonna be okay though?"

"Yeah." Emily replied, but she wasn't sure if she was convincing Hanna or convincing herself.

Emily scoured the Great Hall for a glimpse of Paige during the start of year feast but there was no sign of the Slytherin anywhere. This immediately brought Emily's mood down immensely but by the same token she wasn't supposed to meet Paige until after the feast so did not let herself get too disheartened by the lack of the brunette's presence. Despite loving the feast, the time she got to spend with her friends and the proud moment when Mike was sorted into Hufflepuff Emily was distracted. Her feet twitched and her hands were restless; she couldn't wait to see Paige so when they were all finally dismissed Emily almost ran out of the hall with joy however she composed herself so that it was more of a brisk walk rather than a sprint. Emily snuck away from the other Gryffindors and rushed through the familiar corridors of Hogwarts castle. Paintings whizzed by, more blurs of colour rather than actual pictures as Emily hurried down halls and skidded round corners until she made it to the back entrance of the castle. Emily took a deep breath before stepping out into the warm night air. The beaten muddy track hard under her feet as she walked the well-known path down to Hagrid's hut. It wasn't long until the large oak tree came into view- a darker shadow against the starlit night that towered above her like a giant watching over the Gryffindor girl. Then another shape came into sight as Emily drew nearer to the oak; a smaller and more human shape. Paige.

Emily wanted to run towards the girl but instead hung back and observed her. The Slytherin paced backwards and forwards in front of the borderline if the forest- not so close as to enter the trees but not so far that she was visible out from under the leaves' protection of darkness. Emily crept closer in an attempt to get a better look and she did. She finally saw Paige's face as a cloud uncovered some of the brighter stars and the girl's face became clearly visible. She looked...worried. Emily let a small smile grace her lips as she began making the last leg of the joinery to their meeting spot. Emily's heart hammered in her chest as her footfalls became slowly faster. She had to be only 6 metres away now and she had to ask herself; why was she so nervous? It was only Paige. As she got closer to the treeline the moon came out from behind a cloud and cast a ray of shimmering silver light onto the ground on which they stood and illuminated both of the girl's faces in its glow. Paige's hair shone as she turned, looking for a sign of her favourite Gryffindor. Both sets of brown eyes met and mirrored grins spread across their faces. What happened next was unexpected but certainly not unwelcome.

Emily and Paige ran forwards and upon reaching the other and threw their arms around each other's bodies in a tight embrace. They held on for a while longer before Paige murmured into Emily's dark hair "I didn't think you would come." The Slytherin drank in Emily's presence like a well needed drink after a long hike.

"How could I stay away?" Paige stepped back and her worried expression turned to one of relief; tears welled in the Slytherin girl's eyes.

"So…y-you still want to be friends with me?" She asked, still uncertain.

"Of course I do, why else would I be here?" Emily's smile grew wider as Paige's eyes lit up with joy. How had she not noticed what a beautiful shade of brown Paige's eyes were before? Her unshed tears glistened like the stars above them, but Paige's radiance shone brighter than any of the constellations in the sky. "I get what you said now." Emily admitted, Paige cocked her head in confusion reminding Emily of a young puppy.

"About what?"

"About how people might not want us to be friends." Emily looked at the ground; Spencer's words on the train earlier that day still stung her.

"Was it Spencer?" Paige asked and Emily's eyes snapped back up to hers immediately it was almost like she had read her mind. Paige just shrugged. "We used to have Care of Magical Creatures together, she never much liked me- especially when I beat her in the final exam."

"Yeah it was…I understand not all Slytherins are good but neither are all Ravenclaws…or even Gryffindors. Your house shouldn't define who you are or what's expected of you." Emily said with conviction.

"I know, but I guess that's just the way it is." Paige replied sombrely

"But I'm not gonna let it define our friendship- we may have to be keep it a secret for a while but in the end I'm sure we can tell people." Emily smiled. It was infectious to Paige; whenever Emily smiled she just had to return the gesture.

"Okay." She agreed "That's what we'll have to do."

"I guess Trelawney was right then." Emily said, suddenly changing the subject

"Right about what?"

"When she first put us in pairs. She said I have paired you up with someone whose path will cross yours in the future." The Gryffindor explained

"Yeah, I guess she was."

Things changed after that, Emily and Paige had only one class together: Care of Magical Creatures and by chance alone Hagrid had paired them up for the year. Neither one could complain because not only did it mean that they would spend more time together without people being suspicious it also meant that Emily could improve in the lesson because Paige was top of the class of.

Outside of lessons however they had to be careful, if they met in the corridors they had to be flippant and could only meet deep in the stacks of the Library to talk in hushed tones. However there were moments, just moments where none of it mattered and they could both be themselves and that was on the Island. Paige showed it to Emily about a month into their first term. In the middle of the black lake was an island that Paige had discovered at the end of her second year when following some lake creatures on her broomstick.

The Gryffindor and the Slytherin made it their mission to meet there once a week to talk about school and friends and just about everything. The brief hour she would spend on the island with Paige was her favourite time of the week and if either of them had to miss their meeting it left both with a feeling of residual disappointment and emptiness.

Soon Hallowe'en rolled around and the feast was magnificent; giant pumpkins grown by Hagrid littered the hall and castle, the candles that floated above the students were enchanted so the usual warm yellow flames glowed bright orange, black and green, all of the teachers (except Snape) were in fancy dress and even more excitable than usual chatter filled the Great Hall. Emily's face wore a permanent grin as her and her friends tucked into the huge Halloween themed feast, but the food and festivities were not the only reason for her grin. From where Emily was sat, she had a perfect view of Paige who sat at the Slytherin table. After the feast almost all of the fourth years were set to go to Noel Kahn's infamous Halloween party- it was the first time the girls had been invited and Emily was fairly certain it was to do with the fact that Noel had a crush on Aria. All of the girls seemed to like someone, Spencer was heavily crushing on a Hufflepuff prefect in the year above, Hanna had a crush on another Hufflepuff; Sean Ackard and Aria seemed to like Noel back. And then there was Emily who couldn't tell the difference between weather a guy had Geek-Chic or was just a Geek. Boys weren't important to the Gryffindor; she only cared about schoolwork and meeting Paige without the girls noticing. However she was certainly looking forward to the party.

It wasn't long before the feast was over and all of the Fourth Years were sneaking out to a cabin on the edges of Hogwarts' grounds for the party. Everyone had dressed up, Aria was a witch- well a cliché one- although only Emily (who had been brought up as a Muggle) knew the reason behind it. Hanna was Brittenya Speares a huge pop icon in the Wizarding world, Spencer was some Queen from the past that no one had any idea about and Emily was Pocahontas. Many other students were going and the hope was that none of them would get caught. The group of friends huddled close together as they hurried across the grounds in search of the cabin luckily it wasn't long until they found it and joined in on the festivities.

Around and hour later Emily was still sober whereas the other girls had managed to get roaring drunk. She shook her head as they stumbled around laughing at nothing, as she rolled her eyes she looked away and across the clearing, stood on the cabin steps, was Paige. Emily grinned and began to make her way over. Once she got there she realised Spencer, Aria and Hanna weren't her only friends that were drunk. Paige had a glass of Firewhisky in her hand and by the smell of things about 15 more in her stomach. "Emily!" The girl exclaimed happily upon seeing the Gryffindor. She swung her arms up in some form of greeting and ended up sloshing her drink on her leg. She looked down at the darker patch on her robes forlornly before looking up into the bemused eyes of Emily. "Come sit with me." Paige reached out and took hold of Emily's hand. Her palm instantly tingled with the Slytherin's touch and a shiver ran down her spine unexpectedly, Paige dragged her down to the step beside her.

"Paige you're drunk." Emily said stupidly, she didn't know what else to say.

"Yes, I do believe I am." The brunette replied with a lopsided grin "Loving the costume by the way, super scary." Paige grinned

"Yeah, well what about yours? Or rather lack of one." Emily replied with a smug and superior grin.

"To me being a Slytherin is terrifying." Paige replied and wiped the grin from Emily's face. Of course. Paige was terrified of becoming her father and, in her opinion, she was already on the path to becoming him- he had been in Slytherin house too. Emily placed a comforting hand on Paige's knee, she looked up in response.

"Hey." Emily began gently "You're not gonna become him Paige, you're too kind."

"I'm a Slytherin though aren't I? I'm already half way there."

"No, you're not." Emily tried again "You're amazing Paige, you're good and caring and amazing. You couldn't possibly turn into him." Paige looked up from staring at the dirt specks on the step below them. Her eyes met Emily's and she placed her pale hand on top of Emily's tanned one.

"Thank you…for everything. These past few months and the time I've spent with you, they've been the best of my life. I just thought you should know that." Emily smiled but did not reply, Paige averted her gaze quickly and Emily realised she had been waiting for her to answer; or at least say something.

"They've been the best of my life too." And she wasn't lying, her weekly meetings with Paige were what kept Emily going throughout the week. The Slytherin looked up again and chocolate eyes met forest brown. However their locked gaze did not last long, instead Emily found herself staring at Paige's lips, she felt herself lean forward. Wait, what was she doing? Emily's hand found its way into Paige's as the other girl leaned forward as well, their noses were almost touching but just before they could make contact both girls jumped back and dropped their hands before smiling awkwardly at each other. Emily quickly changed the subject to more trivial things. "Great party though right?"

It was a month after Noel's party and winter was closing in fast. The grounds were covered in a light dusting of snow, much like that of a sprinkling of icing sugar on a cake but the snowfall was becoming heavier and the warm autumn days were replaced by cold winter nights. Care of Magical Creatures was becoming harder and harder to participate in- even their large winter jackets couldn't keep out the biting cold so in the last week of November Hagrid finally relented and let the students have their lessons inside.

In no time at all Christmas arrived and gifts were once again exchanged, Spencer even got a new quill from Toby. Safe to say she was overjoyed and so was Hanna because she had also received a gift from an admirer- Sean. The Hufflepuff and the Ravenclaw were giddy all throughout the day and Emily couldn't be happier for them.

Later that day Emily managed to run into Paige, however being with her friends she could not speak so instead as she brushed past the Slytherin girl she pressed a small box into the palm of her hand. Paige turned to look after the receding shape of Emily but saw only the back of her head- she looked down into her hand and opened the small box and gasped at its contents. Inside the velvet lining was a small pendant embellished with a Slytherin emblem and-upon closer inspection- the three other house crests surrounding it. Paige plucked the necklace from the box and turned it over, on the back was a message engraved in the silver metal;

_Paige, the most loyal, brave and smart Slytherin I know~ E_

Tears pricked Paige's eyes and a smile spread across her features. She held the pendant to her chest as she leant against the wall and tilted her head up to the ceiling, her smile turned to a grin as she looked back at the present. "What are you smiling about McCullers?" Melissa Hastings inquired as she rounded the corner.

"Nothing at all, Melissa, nothing at all." She replied as the 7th year passed by, sneering. The brunette girl disappeared from sight around another corner. As soon as she was gone Paige placed the necklace around her neck and tucked the pendant underneath her collar so that the cool metal pressed against her skin, a constant physical reminder of Emily's presence.


	4. Chapter 4

Fourth Year Part Two

Care of Magical Creatures fast became Emily's favourite subject at Hogwarts, mainly because it was the only time during school hours they could talk without arousing suspicion- it was in one of these classes that Emily started to realise her feelings for Paige weren't exactly friendly. It had started out a normal lesson, looking after the young Selkies in their pool and feeding them- nothing out of the ordinary. Paige was gently easing a small minnow into one of the baby's mouths when it suddenly splashed away, effectively soaking the girl. The brunette jumped back in surprise as the icy water hit her; Emily also jumped back, trying to avoid the arc of the water. Paige looked down at her drenched robes and where others would have cursed she just laughed. "You alrigh' o'er there Paige?" Hagrid called from the other side of the pool where he was helping a Gryffindor to clean a Selkie's claws.

"Yeah, just a bit damp." She replied with a chuckle and looked up at Emily. When their eyes met it was like Emily was seeing her, _really _seeing, her for the first time. A warmth spread from her heart all the way down to the tips of her toes and she couldn't help but smile at the Slytherin. Emily had never felt this way before and if she was being honest, had no idea what exactly it meant. It wasn't until later that day when she was talking to Spencer about Toby that she realised. She cared about Paige, really cared about her, and that thought- no that _realisation_ terrified her.

Later that same month Emily felt the warmth again, this time it was deep within the stacks in the Library. She and Paige were discussing the new Firebolt 1.7 and the way Paige was so enthusiastic about it made Emily's heart swell. She had noticed that the Slytherin used her hands a lot when she talked and that day was no exception, her arms waved and her fingers danced- Emily was mesmerised by the girl. Everything she did she seemed to do with such grace and then other times she was the clumsiest girl in the world. What Emily loved most about Paige was her smile, or rather one specific smile that was reserved just for Emily. It started out with the right side of her mouth twitching upwards which then turned into a lopsided grin, then the left side of her mouth caught up and she shone. Shone brighter than the stars and the moon combined. It was also at this time that Emily realised what she was feeling was not strictly normal. When had she ever felt this way when talking to Hanna? She hadn't. When had she felt this way when talking to Ben? (Who the girls insisted had a crush on her) She hadn't. Truth was nothing she felt when she was with Paige was before experienced, it was all shiny and new and utterly petrifying.

Around Easter Emily stopped trying to fight what she felt. If these feelings were so strong and refused to be suppressed then surely they were meant to be there. Or at least that's how Emily saw it. The Gryffindor told no one of what she was coming to realise. Told no one of her late night trips to the medical section of the Library to see if what was happening to her was a disease. Told no one when she found out who she truly was. Emily told no one of her late nights where she would simply cry.

Emily kept her mouth firmly shut.

Spring arrived but the cold refused to leave, like a stubborn child it lingered- afraid it would miss something if it left the room. In an attempt to lift the students' spirits McGonagall organised an extra trip to Hogsmeade for the third years and above. As soon as it was announced Spencer of course had to create an itinerary for them to visit every shop there was, despite the fact that they had all gone to all of them before but Emily had no intention of sticking to her plan- Paige and herself had already thought ahead to seize this opportunity to meet up, hopefully, without too much trouble. They had arranged to meet in the forest near the Shrieking Shack- almost no Hogwarts students went near the place, and those who did didn't stick around long. For about the fiftieth time in the past ten minutes Emily looked at her watch; 12:13, if she wanted to meet Paige for 12:30 she would have to get away soon. However Spencer was on the ball today and she refused to let up, Emily needed a way to get away and fast; Hanna noticed the other girl's restlessness. "Hey, Em, are you alright?" the blonde asked. Emily snapped her head sideways, surprised.

"Yeah why to you ask?"

"Well you've been jiggling your leg so fast that I can feel the vibrations in my foot." Hanna replied and Emily instantly stopped.

"Sorry." She apologised

"Its fine…Wait, do you need to be somewhere because whenever I'm desperate to get away I always do that." Hanna continued and Emily wondered how on earth this girl was ever considered the dumb one of the group. "Is this about your friend in Slytherin?" Hanna whispered the last part so that the other girls would not hear. Emily couldn't lie, not to Hanna- not after how kind and considerate she had been regarding her mystery friend.

"Yeah, we arranged to meet and if I don't get out of here fast I'm gonna be late." Emily explained.

"So what you're saying is you need a distraction."

"What? No I don't mean-" But Hanna cut Emily off

"Leave it to me." Hanna stood up abruptly and Aria and Spencer both turned to her "Guys, there's something I really need to tell you." Even Emily's attention was solely focused on Hanna right now. "I…" But before she could fully begin she dropped to the floor as she fainted. All three girls shot up but Emily got there first "Go" Hanna whispered "Now's your chance." Emily's eyes widened as everyone else in The Three Broomsticks shot up and raced to Hanna's side. Emily saw her opening and before dashing out of the door mouthed

"Thank you." To Hanna. Then she was running with a wide grin plastered to her features.

Emily made it to the edge of the forest and saw a familiar shape leaning against the tree, huddled up against the cold. "Paige." She breathed and somehow the brunette heard her- she turned and a grin spread across the Slytherin's face. Emily rushed over and noticed Paige's nose was bright red /and her cheeks the same shade. "Merlin's beard, Paige, are you okay?" Emily placed a hand onto the 12other girl's shoulder and was shocked to find she was freezing.

"It's a tad cold out here and I forgot my big coat."

"A tad cold? It's well below freezing! I'm surprised you haven't frozen already." Emily immediately began unzipping her large winter coat.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"Giving you my coat otherwise you really are gonna freeze." Emily replied as if it was the simplest thing in the world. She tried to put it on Paige but the other girl resisted. "What are you doing?"

"Stopping you putting the coat on me, Em, if you give it to me you're gonna be the one that's freezing." Paige explained, still resisting against Emily and her large coat.

"Yeah well you've been out here longer." Paige did not relent "Please Paige, let me." At Emily's soft words the Slytherin final stopped struggling and let Emily place the coat around her shoulders; once it was there Paige hungrily wrapped it tight around herself. Emily settled down next to Paige and leant against the tree trunk; it wasn't long before she was shivering manically.

"See I told you!" Paige exclaimed trying to shrug off the coat "You're gonna freeze to death."

"We both are, what should we do?" Emily asked and the two girls looked at each other, stumped.

"We could always share." Paige muttered and Emily leapt at the girl snuggling into her side and wrapping the coat around their joined bodies.

"Thank God we sorted that out." Emily said happily, drinking in Paige's body heat. The Slytherin sat awkwardly for a while with Emily latched onto her side but soon she began to relax and wrapped her arm around the Gryffindor in a close embrace. Their combined body heat under the coat was more than enough to keep them pleasantly warm and so they continued to chat.

"I have to say that Dolphins have to be my favourite animal; non-magical that is." Emily said

"I don't really have a favourite, I love all animals." Paige smiled down at her and Emily looked up into her brown eyes happily. She rested her head against Paige's shoulder and the Slytherin couldn't help but rest her head upon Emily's dark hair. She smelled of cinnamon and soap- and unusual but not unpleasant scent; Paige revelled in it.

"I love spending time with you, Paige." Emily admitted quietly "You light up my week, no you light up my life." Emily looked up again and after meeting her eyes for a moment she once again found herself staring at Paige's lips only this time there was no one around to see the uncertain glances.

"I…I love spending time with you too, Em." She replied, uncertainly- not uncertain about her words, she knew for a fact she loved her time with Emily more than anything else. That wasn't the cause for her uncertainty- Paige was uncertain about what was going to happen next. She knew what she wanted to happen; she had known since Halloween but she was scared, scared of rejection, scared of people's responses she was just plain scared. But now as Emily leaned closer she wasn't just scared, she was excited. What happened next could change everything. Paige leaned closer, mirroring her actions from Halloween and just before their noses touched a crashing noise behind them made them both leap back and whip their heads round in the direction of the noise. Emily was the first to recognise the cause of the noise.

"Hanna?"

"Listen, Em, I'm really sorry that I followed you, I just…I wanted to meet this friend of yours. I know you've been sneaking off to see him and you always come back so happy so I wanted to meet him." Hanna explained as she rounded the tree "And if by what I can see from here is what it looks like you two are far more than just friends…" The blonde trailed off as she came around the front and got her first real look at the gobsmacked girls. Emily froze, her limbs stiffer than when she had been out in the cold without the jacket. She opened and closed her mouth like a fish for a few seconds before settling with it closed. What was she going to say? How could she explain this? "Okay…Not what I was expecting." Hanna spoke for the first time in a few minutes, Emily looked over at Paige who looked like she was about to cry. Emily felt a similar sensation begin to form in her eyes. Emily's hand found its way into Paige's under the coat and Paige's eyes snapped to Emily's the instant they touched. The Slytherin's eyes were pleading, but so were Emily's. "So this is the lady who's been making my Em so happy, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." Hanna stuck out her hand in Paige's direction "Hanna Marin." She introduced herself. Emily and Paige both sat with their mouths agape for about ten seconds; Hanna moved her hand slightly as if reminding Paige it was there. Paige suddenly became acutely aware of her surroundings and leapt up, however Emily kept tight a hold of her hand. She had let go once and she wasn't about to do it again.

Paige was still unsure of this drastic change in events but she took a hold of Hanna's proffered hand with her own free one and shook "Paige McCullers."

"Hanna what are you-" But Emily was cut off by the blonde

"I'm glad to finally meet you, Paige." She smiled before turning to Emily who was still stood gobsmacked. "Come on, Em, you can't honestly expect me to have a problem with this? I'm just glad you've found someone to make you happy." Emily's shocked expression turned to one of joy as she ran forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Hanna. The blonde returned the hug with a smile before stepping back and watching as Emily grasped Paige's hand again. "Now by the looks of how awkward that was I'm guessing that was going to be you guy's first kiss so I am going to go now." Hanna started to walk away but whispered in Emily's ear "She's hot."

Paige turned to Emily as Hanna disappeared into the trees. "That was certainly not what I was expecting."

"You can say that again." Emily agreed before looking down at their joined hands- the pale of Paige's skin against Emily's own caramel tone contrasted yet matched perfectly. "Speaking of repeating things; wanna try that kiss again?"

"Not now, later- I want it to be perfect. Besides, I'm not entirely sure I know what this," She gestured to both of them "Is yet, I know I care about you, Em, I really do but I need to do some figuring out on my own you know?"

"I do." Emily replied simply.

Emily's fourth year at Hogwarts passed by in flash, Ravenclaw won the Quidditch cup whereas Hufflepuff managed to win the House Cup- safe to say the majority of Slytherin weren't happy to hear it but it was nowhere near the amount of grief they would have had to suffer if Gryffindor had won. The Great Hall was adorned with yellow and black banners with tapestries of the Hufflepuff emblem everywhere. Hanna could not have been more ecstatic. "I can't believe we won!" She grinned "Hufflepuff _never _wins!" All four girls celebrated with her along with the rest of the school and sadly it was over too soon. The feast ended and the students were boarded onto the Hogwarts Express, luggage in tow. Mike seemed the most disheartened by the fact that they were going home, but by the same token he could not wait to see his parents and tell them everything he had learned. The five friends tumbled into a free compartment and began the task of lifting all of their trunks onto the luggage railings; Emily and Spencer did most of the work as they were the only ones tall enough to reach. Around ten minutes later they were all sorted and the train was just about to leave; they all sat down in the same way as they had back in September on the way to Hogwarts. The engine chugged into life and the scarlet steam engine began to pull away from the ancient castle. The Gryffindor stared out of the window and smiled as she spotted the oak tree where she and Paige had met on the first day of term- she remembered it as clearly as if it was yesterday; spotting the brunette by the treeline and running towards her to wrap her in a tight embrace. Emily suddenly realised that things had certainly changed since then. Their almost-kiss in the woods still played heavily on her mind; the way their hands fit perfectly together, the warmth under the coat, the way Paige looked at her. It was the source of much turmoil and joy. Since then they had returned to the way they were-just good friends. Paige had asked for time to figure things out and that was exactly what Emily was going to give her. She had certainly needed the time to sort out what was the new normal for her, at some points she had forgotten what normal felt like. If Paige needed time that was what she was going to get, no matter how long that was going to take.

Paige fiddled with the pendant that hung around her neck. It had become a nervous habit, because when Paige was scared or nervous she always went to Emily and right now the pendant was the closest thing she had to her. Paige knew exactly what she wanted she was just too scared to admit it. No she was too scared to _ask _for it.

Her hands moved from the pendant and instead began to thumb the box within her pocket. The object within had taken her months to make and perfect but she knew the final product was worth the hours spent on enchantments. Paige let out a shaky breath and peered round the corner of the compartment, through the glass she saw Emily sat happily gazing out the window deep in thought. It was now or never. The Slytherin gulped and stepped out; she knocked on the door.

All eyes turned to the door to the compartment as a knock sounded on the glass. It was Hanna who moved first, she opened the door to find Paige standing outside looking very nervous. "What do you want McCullers?" Spencer snapped and Emily almost shook with rage.

"I-err…Emily you left one of your textbooks in our last Care of Magical Creatures class. I have it." She stuttered and Emily furrowed her brows. The Gryffindor knew for a fact that she hadn't.

"Oh, thanks Paige. I'll come and get it." Emily replied, rising quickly and following the Slytherin down the corridor. Hanna stuck her head out of the door and gave Emily a thumbs up before shutting the door and returning to the conversation in the compartment. "Paige-" Emily began before the brunette cut her off.

"I have something for you." She blurted and Emily smiled.

"I'm gonna assume that it's not my textbook because that's safely packed away in my trunk." She chuckled and Paige smiled nervously.

"No it's…a very late Christmas present- in fact think of it as an early Birthday present." Paige rambled "Or even both rolled into one, or maybe it's not big enough to be _both _presents but you know I could always-" Emily cupped Paige's cheek with her hand and the Slytherin's ramblings were instantly stopped.

"Paige, you're babbling."

"Oh yeah, right, sorry I do that." She spoke very fast, Emily almost found it hard to understand her "Anyway, yes! I have a present." She reached into her robes and rummaged around in one of the pockets before pulling out a small black and silver box "I hope you like it…" Paige handed Emily the box and the Gryffindor smiled before nervously opening it up. She gasped in surprise. Inside the box was a pendant- much like that Emily had given Paige, but instead of having the House crests on it had a dolphin surrounded by crystal blue waves that…_moved._

"Paige it's…" The Gryffindor was speechless

"Do you like it? Cause if you don't I could always-" But once again Emily cut her off with a huge hug. Paige's hands hung uselessly by her sides before she too wrapped them around Emily's body. Paige smiled happily as Emily's warmth spread all across her body. It wasn't long before they broke apart and Emily whispered happily

"I love it. Thank you." Paige gestured for Emily to give her the necklace and the Gryffindor complied, handing over the pendant she waited as Paige placed the necklace over her head. Emily shivered as Paige's hands came into contact with her neck as the Slytherin lifted her hair out from under the necklace's chain. Their eyes locked and Emily's breaths became shallow. This time it wasn't Emily that leaned forward first; it was Paige. This was it, the point of breaking, a tip where both dared to balance if only the girls allowed themselves to lean over the edge. They'd been here before but hadn't trusted themselves to make that leap, scared that they wouldn't be caught before they hit the floor. Falling may be fun but only until the ground breaks not only your fall but far more however this time Paige jumped; the brunette glanced once at Emily's lips before rushing forwards and as their lips collided for the first time Emily had never felt more at home.


End file.
